A is for Attenuate

I joined another ABC Along this year. This one is being hosted by Vicki over at Knitorious. I did one a couple years ago and had fun. It helped me keep some fresh content on my blog and share some of the things I'm interested in other than knitting. So I decided to go for it again because I want to work on my camera skills.

So this one isn't about knitting, but is about my new interest in spinning. A is for attenuate. Attenuate according to Webster's online dictionary means to reduce especially in thickness, density, or force. I didn't know the word until the spinning class I took in December. I thought I understood the word in context, but I looked it up when I got home to be sure.

The instructor was using attenuate in reference to the color of some dyed fiber we were spinning. I can definitely see that when two colors meet while spinning fiber that each does lose some intensity as they mix. You can also see that as fiber is drafted or pre-drafted in preparation for spinning the fiber does become less dense.

This is the fiber I'm working on for this week's Fiber Friday. I decided to spin a two-ply yarn and I plan on spinning each half of the fiber onto different bobbins and then ply each single together. So I split the braid of combed top lengthwise into two somewhat equal halves. Then I took each half and kept splitting the pieces in half lengthwise until I had two large piles of light and fluffy wool. The next step will be to spin the singles to get ready for plying. Preparing the fiber like this will hopefully help me spin a more consistent yarn.